Three former Navarro Football players signed NFL undrafted free-agent contracts Saturday night after the three-day NFL Draft had concluded.
Trevor Denbow of SMU, Kaylon Geiger of Texas Tech and Benjie Franklin of Tarleton State all agreed to deals early – Denbow, with the Indianapolis Colts; Geiger, with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers; and Franklin, with the Jacksonville Jaguars. All played together here in 2017 for coaches Cody Crill and Jim Gush.
They become Navarro's third set of triplets since the 2013-14 seasons to receive a professional football contract. In 2014-15, Tarleton running back Xavier Turner (Seattle) and offensive lineman Tristan Nickelson of Texas (Tampa Bay) and GeWhite Stallworth of Louisiana Tech (Sioux Falls, Indoor League) were the most recent.
Denbow, whose talents and athleticism spread from linebacker to safety to punter, will use versatility to take advantage of his opportunity with the Colts. Denbow helped the Bulldogs finish as the NJCAA's No. 17 ranked football program in 2017 after leading them to the Southwest Junior College Football Conference Tournament semifinals. Denbow compiled 36 tackles, two sacks and four interceptions in 10 starts, mostly as an outside linebacker or at safety. At SMU, he averaged almost 39 yards from 45 career punts – with six 50-yard-plus kicks, nine killed inside the opponents' 20-yard-line and seven others unreturned, resulting in fair catches.
A USA Today All-American as a Corsicana High School senior, Denbow earned District 17-5A Player of the Year honors after a season of 45 tackles, 35 unassisteds and four interceptions
Geiger, a product of Fort Worth Paschal High School, began a five-year collegiate career at Navarro and became the third of four Navarro players with 100 or more career receptions (100-1451-8). He caught 44 or more passes for four consecutive years while playing in three different football programs -- Navarro, Troy University and Texas Tech. Now after five-year college totals of 48-1152-1 in kickoff returns and 285-3549-17 receiving, the Geiger Counter is ready to click with Tom Brady.
Franklin, an NJCAA First-Team All-American and Southwest Junior College Football Conference Defensive Player Of The Year The two-year starter from Alief Taylor High School made 62 tackles and six interceptions during a 10-game sophomore season. As a junior, Franklin led Tarleton to a second straight undefeated regular season and Lone Star Conference Championship on a defense that ranked No. 2 nationally in team passing efficiency (91.64) and No. 10 in scoring defense (16.5). With 11 career interceptions as a senior, he unveiled new big-play weaponry by twice blocking and returning klcks for scores (98-yard PAT return for safety against Mississippi College, and a 68-yard blocked field goal return for touchdown against East Central)
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